


Home Is Wherever I'm With You

by snarkystarks



Category: A Song of Ice and Fire - George R. R. Martin, Game of Thrones (TV)
Genre: Arya and Gendry are long distance best friends, Everyone is both aware and oblivious to their feelings, F/M, Found Families, Friends to Lovers, I don't plan out my chapters so we're going on this adventure together, Long Distance Friendship, Loras and Renly are Gendry's adoptive parents, M/M, No Beta we Die like Starks, Robb and Theon accidentally become parents, Robb and Theon are so dumb, Robb's just trying his best okay, They watch The Office together, arya being an emotional rollercoaster, bed sharing, best friends to more than best friends, slow burn?, so much dialogue, theon being dramatic
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2020-02-11
Updated: 2020-02-17
Packaged: 2021-02-27 19:08:59
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 2
Words: 7,524
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/22670767
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/snarkystarks/pseuds/snarkystarks
Summary: After an incident with her mother, Arya is sent off to Riverrun to stay with Theon and Robb. Arya has exactly three places she'd rather be but Robb and Theon are determined to make it work.
Relationships: Arya Stark/Gendry Waters, Theon Greyjoy/Robb Stark
Comments: 34
Kudos: 98





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> The title for this fic is from the song Home by Edward Sharpe and the Magnetic Zeros. I am hoping to have a chapter up every week but I'll be starting a new job next month so I'll let you know if the update schedule changes.
> 
> If you don't like Throbb this fic isn't for you. Gendrya and Throbb are the main ships in this story and the story follows the transition from friends to more than friends for both Gendry/Arya and Robb/Theon.

**DAY 1**

**ARYA**

“Arry? What’s wrong?”

Arya clenches her jaw and watches as the scenery flashes by through the window of the train in a blur of white. “What makes you think something is wrong?”

Gendry yawns down the phone. “You mean other than the fact that it’s a Saturday and you’re calling me at seven in the morning?”

“Sorry for ruining our beauty sleep,” she snaps. “I’ll let you go back to bed-”

“Shut up, Arry,” he interrupts. “You know I’m always here to listen to what’s on your mind so tell me what’s on your bloody mind.”

At first she doesn’t say anything. She doesn’t know what to say. Usually she’s the one with all the words out of the two of them. Losing her ability to articulate things is just the cherry on top of this already shit day. After a few failed attempts to get any kind of elaborate explanation through her lips she settles on simple facts. “I’m on a train to Riverrun.”

“You’re visiting Robb?”

“Actually, I’m going to live with him.” She clears her throat. “I fucked up, Bull.”

Arya can hear sheets rustling down the phone and she imagines Gendry propping himself up in bed the way he always does when he’s resigned himself to settling in for the long haul when they talk. “What happened?”

The concern in his voice makes something snap inside her and her mouth starts running. “I got into a fight at school and mum just snapped. She started going on about how I’m a bad influence on Rickon and how great Sansa is. Then she started blaming Jon and saying I’m only acting out because he didn’t come home for Thanksgiving.”

“But didn’t she make it clear she didn’t want him there and that’s why he didn’t visit for Thanksgiving?”

Arya swallows. “Pretty much, yeah. I just lost it, Gendry. I broke that stupid vase Sansa made her in art class two years ago. Dad had to step in and now I’m on a train. Robb and Theon are waiting for me at the station.”

“They seriously just shipped you off for one fight?” Gendry sounds outraged and Arya’s heart beats faster at his reaction. “Loras and Renly would have dumped me back into the foster system years ago if that was an acceptable reason to just pass your kid onto someone else.”

Arya can’t imagine a reason that would make Loras and Renly send Gendry anywhere away from them. “It’s not just the fight at school. Things have been really tense since Thanksgiving. She doesn’t like that I’m interested in Braavos for university…we just don’t mix, Gen.”

“I’ll come visit you,” promises Gendry.

Arya rolls her eyes. “How are you going to do that?”

“Steal a car. Sneak onto a plane.”

“Be serious,” she scoffs. The sole of her shoe squeals against the train car floor and she smiles vindictively at the old woman sitting a few rows away from her who flinches at the sound. Serves the woman right for eavesdropping. “You can’t just sneak onto a plane.”

“I was actually just thinking of asking Loras and Renly.”

“That’s…underwhelming.”

Gendry yawns again. “It’s simple and straightforward. I like simple and straightforward.”

Arya looks out the window and releases a deep breath. “I wish you were on this train with me,” she says honestly.

“Me too, Arry. Me too.”

**_-_ **

**ROBB**

“Okay, the room is clear and ready for Arya.”

Robb looks at Theon. Dust is smeared across the front of his shirt, the result of Theon wiggling under the bed in an attempt to catch all the dust bunnies hiding near the baseboards under the far corner of the bed. “You’ve got some dirt here,” he gestures to his cheek. Theon swipes at the wrong cheek and Robb rolls his eyes, reaching out to wipe the offending dirt away. “There.”

“Thanks.”

“I should be saying that to you.” Robb says.

Theon rolls his eyes. “Don’t start, Stark.”

“I’m serious, Theon. You didn’t have to say yes.”

“It’s not about having to say anything,” Theon answers seriously. “Arya is your sister and she needs support. I knew that being involved in your family drama was a thing when I hitched my wagon to yours in second grade.”

“Did you really, though?” He asks. Robb vividly remembers Jon crying in second grade over their Mother’s Day arts and craft lesson. Theon had refused to make anything for his own mother. Robb had tried pass his creation off as a joint effort with Jon. It hadn’t gone well. None of them had really had much understanding of anything back in the second grade.

“Not really but I re-signed the lease when we decided to move away to college together,” Theon shrugs. “Plus, Arya’s kind of the only sibling of yours I actually like spending time with.”

Robb chuckles at the truth of that statement. Theon has always made his feelings about Robb’s siblings clear. He thinks Jon is too whiny and annoying. Sansa is too prissy. Bran too bookish and strange. Rickon, the youngest of them all, too high maintenance. Theon has always appreciated Arya’s fiercely independent nature.

“You’re giving up a lot, Theon. Sharing a room with me, living with an angry teenage girl…” Robb trails off.

“We shared a room for years. I think we’ll survive an extended sleep over.”

“You’re not going to let me say thank you, are you?”

“Nope,” Theon smirks, clapping Robb on the shoulder. “I’m going to go shower and change into something I can actually wear in public.”

Theon strips off his shirt and throws it at Robb. Robb barely dodges in time to avoid the flying object. His best friend cackles and slips into the bathroom before Robb can throw it back at him.

Robb bends down to pick up the shirt and sinks it into the laundry hamper crammed into the corner of their now shared bedroom. He looks around at the room and takes in the neatly made bed pushed up against a wall and the books piled high on the extra desk that they managed to squash in next to Robb’s.

He almost trips over the pile of shoes scattered across the floor but manages to flop out onto the bedspread without breaking anything. The pipes in the walls creak and he listens to the sound of the shower running as he counts the cracks in the ceiling.

Robb vaguely notices the sounds cutting out but it’s too late to busy himself with anything before Theon walks into the room with dripping hair and a towel slung low around his waist.

“Chuck me a pair of boxers?” Theon asks.

Robb nods and leans over to rummage through the single bedside table they’ve managed to keep in the room. He throws a random pair at Theon, not really sure who they belong to. Underwear has never really been a thing they’ve worried about keeping separate but Robb knows most people would think it weird that they share everything in their wardrobes, even the most intimate parts.

“Thanks.” Theon doesn’t bother with faux-modesty and drops his towel. He slips on the boxers and uses the towel to ring out some of the water in his hair. “You getting changed today?”

Robb picks at his blue shirt. It looks clean enough. “No, I wasn’t the one crawling around like a worm chasing dust bunnies.”

“Okay, green shirt it is then.” Theon decides, picking the shirt from the closet. “We might be sharing a bed, Stark, but I refuse to let us become those weird friends that dress alike.”

Robb raises an eyebrow. “That’s what you find weird about this whole thing?”

Theon throws his towel at Robb. “I think you’re plenty weird, Robb, but I think we both know I’m too fucking lazy to try and make a new friend. I’m invested in this friendship, even if you’ve got two left feet.”

A second later, Theon shakes his hair like a dog and Robb shrieks, throwing a pillow at him in retaliation. Theon smirks and Robb can’t help but grin back.

**_-_ **

**ARYA**

By the time she has listened through her favourite playlist the North has well and truly bled out into the South. It’s not the first time she’s left the North to go to Riverrun but it’s the first time she’ll be staying there indefinitely.

Arya doesn’t like the way it makes her stomach churn.

She had never pictured leaving the North like this. Leaving for the South had always been Sansa’s fantasy. Sansa is the sister who wants to leave the bitter cold for pretty dresses and prettier boys. Sansa is the sister who lives and breathes for the propriety the South holds near and dear. Arya isn’t the kind of Stark that belongs in the South.

But she’d always believed that about Robb too.

Her phone vibrates and she opens the Snapchat notification to see a picture from Gendry. His hair looks like a bird’s nest and she can’t help but tug on her own hair even as she scolds herself. Her mother isn’t nearby to berate her about her messy braids. The caption on Gendry’s photo is to the point and she can’t help but snort.

_Send me weird shit._

Arya knows he’s talking about strange train related activity but she can’t help but flip the camera and send him back a picture of her face, eyes crossed and nose scrunched up. It’s not the most flattering photo but it’s also not the least flattering photo he’s seen of her.

The lady who had been eavesdropping earlier gives Arya a judging look and Arya glares back, wondering if Gendry would tell the woman to piss off if he were with her. Her heart hurts at the thought and she chastises herself for the second time in a handful of minutes. Gendry is in Storm’s End where he always lives this time of year. They’ve always lived thousands of miles apart.

Jon’s absence has clearly made her weak.

**_-_ **

Arya’s suitcase rolls across the bumpy safety line on the platform with a short series of arm jerking bumps. Robb and Theon are huddled together down at the other end of the platform and she begins to pull her suitcase behind her. She sees Theon finally recognise her and prod Robb in the side. Robb flinches away from the contact and twists so he can see her. She feels a little self conscious at their blatant staring but it fades away when Robb closes the last of the gap between them and throws his arms around her.

“Arya! How was the trip?”

She shrugs. “Boring. Some old lady kept staring at me. Pretty sure she was just nosey though and not like a weirdo with a thing for teenage girls.”

“Have you had breakfast yet?” Theon asks. “Because between you and me, I think we could wear your brother down and talk him into getting waffles.”

Arya can’t help but smile. Growing up, she and Theon had started more than one food fight over waffles. The most memorable one had ended when Jon, who had been sitting between them at the time, had almost broken his arm after his rickety chair had collapsed under all their combined weight. “It has been a long trip,” she agrees, giving Robb a pout. “Waffles might make me feel better.”

Theon nods and turns wide, sad eyes onto Robb. “Waffles make everything better.”

Robb rolls his eyes. “You’re both ridiculous.” Arya and Theon kept their composure and wait. It doesn’t take long for Robb to huff. “I know what you’re both doing and the only reason I’m agreeing is to save what little dignity you both have left.”

Theon snorts. “Bold of you to assume I still have dignity.”

Arya cackles and gives Robb a quick, squeezing hug before she starts pulling her suitcase towards their car. It’s a small blue thing, not half as flash as the kind of car Joffrey or Margaery would be seen in. Sansa had looked like she had sucked a lemon the first time she had seen it but Arya can’t help but look at the dorky RiverU bumper stickers and the Hawaiian bobble girl on the dashboard and think the car just screams Robb and Theon.

It’s perfect.

**_-_ **

The seat squeaks when Arya slides into the diner booth. She immediately spreads out across seat one bent leg resting on the seat, her back against the wall. Robb and Theon don’t say anything about the fact that she’s taken up more real estate than most people would in a polite setting and settle in together across from her.

She doesn’t feel bad. If Robb and Theon have stopped sitting practically on top of each other since Thanksgiving they can update her on that development. Arya’s pretty sure the polar bears will migrate to Australia before Robb and Theon stop being overly attached best friends though, so she doesn’t think that update will be coming any time soon in this life time.

If it ever does, of course.

“So, how are you really doing?” Robb asks.

Arya’s chest squeezes tight for a painful moment and she brushes her fingers over the laminated menu. “Can we get coffee first? I need caffeine if we’re going to talk about this.”

“On it,” Theon answers.

Arya watches him slide out of the booth and casually drape himself over the diner counter. The waitress, a lady in her forties with crow lines and grey roots nods and shoos Theon away with her order pad. “That was fast,” she comments.

Theon grins. “Paula knows us by name. I just asked her to add your mocha to my black coffee and Robb’s hazelnut monstrosity.”

Arya shudders at the thought of straight black coffee. “I still don’t know how you actually drink that stuff, Theon.”

“I like to think it goes with my aesthetic.”

“You are so lame.”

“Lame?” Theon gasps, hand clutched to his chest. “Robb, back me up here.”

Robb hides behind his own menu and coughs. “Yeah, sure, not lame.”

“I’m your best friend!”

“He’s my brother,” Arya points out. She wonders for the ten millionth time why Theon went into biology and not acting at uni. He’s more dramatic than Sansa half the time and twice as good an actor. “Robb should be siding with me.”

Theon pokes his tongue out at her and anything Arya could hit back with is flung far out into the universe unsaid when her brain registers the smell of coffee coming their way. The smell of Theon’s coffee has her reaching up to scratch her nose in an attempt to chase away the way the strong smell irritates her nose. Robb’s order smells nicer but Arya isn’t satisfied until she can feel the mocha sliding down her throat, scalding her tongue a little.

“So,” Robb gestures.

Arya sighs and cups her mocha lovingly. “You want to know how I’m really feeling, Robb? I’m tired. I’m tired because I got on the first train at Winterfell this morning. I’m tired because Sansa’s spent the last week glaring at me and Mum can’t stand to be in the same room as me and Rickon kept asking questions. I’m tired of playing nice with Sansa’s stupid insipid friends. I’ve tried really hard Robb. I took music lessons. I tried to learn how to dance. I had to sit in on her stupid brunches and help her with the PTA bake sales even though I can’t bake to save my life.” Arya’s throat feels funny and she can feel a stray tear threatening to fall. She wipes it away roughly with the back of her hand. “I’m not perfect but it never feels like I’m going to be good enough for her. She keeps punishing me. Being mean to Jon. Keeping him away at Thanksgiving. Sending me out here.”

“Don’t think of this as a punishment.” Robb tells her.

“What am I meant to take this as?” She asks, gesturing to their surroundings.

“Think of it as an adventure. Like Nymeria in the stories we used to read to you.”

Arya takes another sip of her mocha. “I can be like Nymeria.”

“Besides,” Theon says. “Imagine how much it will piss Sansa off if you actually enjoy your time down here.”

Theon’s taste in coffee might be awful but it is times like this when he reminds Arya exactly why she likes him so much.

**_-_ **

**ROBB**

Paula comes and takes their orders with barely a coo over Arya and a playful smack on Theon’s knuckles with a flimsy menu before she’s off again greeting another regular a few tables away. Arya looks more alert at the prospect of waffles coming their way soon and Robb almost feels bad at having to be the person to bust her bubble.

“So, I think we should talk about rules.”

Arya groans and her head hits the diner wall with a dull thud. “Really?”

“None of that, Ar.” Robb smiles. “These aren’t going to be Mum’s rules.”

Arya perks up again. “Really?”

Theon chuckles. “Do you really think I’m going to hold you to her standards?”

Robb digs a pen out of his pocket and steals a napkin from the napkin holder. His writing isn’t perfect but the word RULES is legible enough to get the point across. “I think it’s only fair that we all agree to any rules we make. If we can’t all agree they don’t go on the list. Anyone got one to start us off?”

Arya hums. “I guess I shouldn’t leave my stuff everywhere?”

“It’s going to be your place too, Wilding,” Theon reminds her almost gently. “But yes, your brother would probably appreciate you restricting any insane mess to your room. We’ll do the same. Keeping the common areas clean for everyone to use is a good rule.”

“Curfew is at eight,” Robb adds. “That’s non-negotiable. If you’re going to go out after school or early on weekends, you need to use the group chat to let us know what you’re doing. Something simple like you’re going to the shops just so we know you’re safe.”

“Fine. But you both have to check in too if you’re going off at some weird time.”

Robb nods. “That’s fair. Anything else?”

“No running off.” Theon shrugs at Arya’s curious look. “I know what it’s like to be in a place that isn’t home.”

“Winterfell is home.” She answers.

Theon smiles. “It wasn’t always. As you get older you realise that home is subjective. I’m grateful for what your parents did for me, Arya, but there were times even before my dad fucked back off to Pike that I missed the place. It’s a miserable and shitty place but I remember what it was like when everything felt like too much and I just wanted to go back.”

Robb nudges Theon’s shoe under the table with his own and their legs settle against each other from toe to hip. Theon doesn’t normally talk a lot about Pike or the few uncertain months of third grade when Ned had argued with Balon over wanting guardianship over Theon.

Theon’s family is… well they’re something.

Robb likes to pretend they don’t exist. He’s pretty sure Theon does the same. He wonders if he said their names in the mirror three times they’d materialise out of thin air like some evil figure in a fireside story.

“Okay, so no running away,” Arya agrees. “Are you going to tell me that I can’t fail anything or get detention?”

Robb smiles. “You’re too smart to fail and I’m too smart to make any of us pretend that you’ll be a model student, Arya. I expect you’ll ruffle a few feathers. Just try not to punch anyone, okay?”

Theon leans across the table conspiratorially. “And if you do, aim for the nose.”

Their waffles arrive soon after that and the rules list is stashed away in Robb’s pocket. Robb’s sure that their mother would be unimpressed by how he’s handling this but he cares a lot more about his sister’s well-being than he does the constant unwavering approval of his mother.

Arya has never done well with too much structure. It’s easier to meet her half way than it is to chase her. Their father had known that years ago when they’d come to the compromise of Arya learning the drums when their mother had insisted she needed to learn an instrument.

Robb wants Riverrun to be something positive for her and so far he’s optimistic that he and Theon might actually be able to pull it off.

“These are amazing,” Arya sighs happily, shovelling more food into her mouth. “We need to come here every week.”

“Don’t talk with your mouth full.” Robb looks at Theon who looks equally ecstatic at the food on his plate. “I think we could make that work.”

“I could marry you right now.”

Robb’s not entirely sure if Theon’s talking to the waffles or to him but the words stick with him long after they’ve cleared their plates and paid the bill.


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Arya "settles' into the unit and Robb never wants to go grocery shopping again.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So this chapter is a bit light on the Arya/Gendry content. This is going to occasionally happen because as much as Gendrya is endgame (obviously) I have to set up the story and let it develop. This story is about Arya and her relationships with the people around her. Sometimes that means we won't see as much of Gendry and you'll see more Robb and Theon content. It's hard to avoid Theon and Robb because Arya is constantly exposed to their relationship now that she lives with them.
> 
> That being said, there is going to be a lot of Gendrya content to come so this chapter is an outlier in terms of the amount of it each chapter on average will have.

**Chapter 2**

**Day 1**

**-**

**THEON**

“Here’s your room.”

Theon doesn’t feel anything in particular about the empty room. Up until this morning it had been his for the last year and a bit but now it’s just a room again. He’s never really been that attached to it. In the same way that it belonged to someone before they moved in, it’s now Arya’s. It will be someone else’s when they eventually move out too. The entire time they’ve been here it’s really just been a place to sleep and occasionally write essays.

Growing up in the Stark household, he’d shared a room with Robb the entire time. Robb’s room had been big enough, of course, for two single beds. The second bed had only appeared though after it was well and truly obvious that Theon had become an unexpected addition to the family. And even then it hadn’t always been used.

“I’m sorry for taking your room,” Arya says.

Theon ruffles her hair. “Don’t be. You know Robb and I have always lived in each other’s pockets. I barely spent time in here.”

“I’ll keep it just like it is now. Promise.”

“Do whatever you want to it, just make sure you don’t do anything we can’t fix before we need to get our security deposit back.”

Arya nods but Theon knows she probably won’t decorate the room. Decorating would be admitting that she’s here for the long haul and Arya’s not someone to admit defeat. Theon understands the sentiment all too much and he hopes that she moves on to acceptance sooner rather than later.

**_-_ **

“Is she unpacking?” Robb asks.

Theon throws himself onto their bed. “Kind of? I don’t really know what she’s got in that suitcase but don’t expect any posters on the wall.”

“We were expecting that, right?”

“Yeah. She’s not going to start doing anything to the space until she realises that she’s not just going to be on a train straight back to Winterfell.”

Robb rolls over and bunches a pillow up underneath himself. “I remember the first thing you did to our room.”

“Really?” Theon doesn’t even remember the first thing he did to their room. He remembers them trying to sneak a goldfish in after they saw Finding Nemo because Robb had been insistent that a fish was exactly what they needed. Catelyn had busted them halfway up the staircase and only allowed them to keep it after Ned had made a comment about responsibility and money management. The fish survived for a few weeks before they were burying it in the backyard with dramatic ceremony.

“You stuck those ribbons you won at the swimming carnival on the wall.”

“You were the only person I knew who did that kind of thing. I thought it was really weird when I first visited your house and saw all the awards and certificates everywhere.” Sticking those ribbons to the wall next to Robb’s athletic carnival ribbons had been a big moment. Theon’s pretty sure it had been the moment he’d caved in and admitted without words that he wanted what Robb had. A family where they did cheesy shit like display soccer trophies on the mantel and stick good effort certificates on the fridge between finger paintings and report cards. “I think your dad still has those.”

“Of course he does.” Robb says. “They’re in his office.”

Theon snorts. “Drowned God, your family is so weird.”

“Our family.” Robb kicks Theon’s foot. “They’re your family too.”

Theon kicks Robb back just so he doesn’t have to keep looking at the dopey look on Robb’s face.

**-**

**ARYA**

The bed is more comfortable than she expected and it makes her feel worse. She wonders if Theon had picked it out specifically or if they’d just picked random beds that seemed comfortable enough and fit into their budget.

She knows that her parents are funding most of Robb and Theon’s life down here. No one in Westeros pays back their university debts until they’re considered financially capable but that doesn’t mean everyone goes to university. There’s rent to pay, textbooks, internet and food. Arya’s not under any illusion. She knows that they’re incredibly lucky to have parents willing to support them under two conditions: they do something practical that they’re passionate about and they don’t fail classes.

They’ll pay for whatever university Sansa gets into and when Arya graduates they’ll pay for her too, even if they’re paying rent money to some stranger in Braavos. Her mother won’t like it, of course, but she’ll still do it because sending money to Braavos is a lot easier to swallow than it is sending money to Jon up at Wall.

Still, Arya feels bad about taking Theon’s room.

It doesn’t take long to unpack. She’s always travelled lighter than most and her full wardrobe at home takes up a third of the space in her closet. Arya doesn’t need more than a few pairs of jeans and shorts, Jon’s old Winterfell Wolves ice skating jersey and a bunch of tops to mix and match with whatever she’ll eventually pull off the floor that passes the smell test.

When she is finally finished, Arya takes a photo and sends it to Jon and Gendry with the captain _done._ Gendry responds immediately with a message, sarcastically complimenting her decorating style and Arya sends him back a picture of her middle finger. Jon takes longer to open the picture but when he does her phone vibrates a few seconds later.

She almost drops her phone in her haste to answer.

_“Hey, Ar.”_

“Jon.”

_“How was the train?”_

Arya shrugs even though she knows Jon can’t see her. “It had carriages and wheels. It was a train. Kind of boring. I talked to Gendry for a bit.”

_“That’s nice. How is he?”_

“Angry on my behalf. Might steal a car to come see me if he can’t get Loras and Renly on board with a visit.”

_Jon laughs. “That’s… sweet? Can he even drive?”_

“Legally? No. Not without a supervisor anyway.” The truth is that Gendry would do it, supervisor or not. He’s stubborn and great at making awful decisions. It’s something they’re both great at.

_“So, how are Robb and Theon?”_

“Robb let us talk him into getting waffles at the diner around the corner. Theon still hasn’t figured out that he can’t grow facial hair for shit. They’ve been pretty cool about the whole thing so far. I’d still rather be with you but that would be doing something nice for the both of us and Gods forbid she actually be kind to you.”

_“Ar.” Jon sighs. “She’s never going to like me. You just need to ignore her and not let it get to you.”_

“That’s bullshit,” she snaps. Arya can feel the anger rising inside her and it burns in a familiar, almost comforting way. “I won’t just sit back and pretend like it’s fine that she treats you like gum stuck to the bottom of her shoe. It’s not right, Jon.”

_“It is what it is. I know you’re angry at her but you need to stop pushing it, Ar, or she’s going to send you somewhere worse than Riverrun.”_

“Where else could she send me? She’s not going to send me to Wall.”

_“No, but she could send you to Aunt Lysa.”_

Arya shudders at the thought. “I hate you.”

_“You’re welcome. Be good, okay? I have to go but I’ll talk to you tomorrow?”_

_“_ Okay. Are you coming to Winterfell for Christmas?”

_“I don’t know, Ar. We’ll see. I love you.”_

“I love you too, Jon.”

The phone disconnects and Arya throws it onto the bed next to her feeling both better and worse for the conversation. She misses Jon fiercely but the aded distance between them doesn’t seem to make her feel any worse than she did back in Winterfell.

Arya will take any small mercies the Old Gods feel like handing out given how shit everything else about this situation is.

**_-_ **

It’s dark when Arya wakes up.

She doesn’t remember falling asleep but the pillow lines on her face and the time on her phone reading 5:37 confirm that she’s slept about four hours. Arya’s not optimistic about her future self falling asleep at anywhere near her normal bedtime tonight.

The room feels a little stuffy and Arya carefully opens the window, mindful of Theon’s earlier tip about it being finicky. The fresh air feels nice and Arya strips off her woollen jumper and changes into a lighter one more appropriate for Riverrun’s climate.

Riverrun doesn’t get as cold as Winterfell, even in winter. The only place that runs colder than Winterfell is Wall.

Arya shuffles out of her room and finds Robb and Theon in the living room/kitchen. The common area of the flat is small and compact. She’s sure the landlord describes it as open concept even though twenty years ago when the units were built with students in mind the actual idea had been to cram as much as they could into the smallest place they could so they could build a whole bunch of other units just as small and cramped to maximise their profits.

Robb is stirring something on the stove and Arya’s stomach grumbles. Robb laughs and waves her over. She leans against him and yawns as she tries to identify what he’s cooking from sight and smell alone.

She gives up after about a minute.

“Everything but the sink?”

“More or less,” Robb agrees. “We’ll have to go shopping tomorrow but we’ve got enough food to last us through Monday if we all end up being lazy tomorrow.”

Theon looks up from his spot on the couch. “Don’t worry, we’ll be going tomorrow, Wildling. We need to get one of those family style calendars for the fridge and I refuse to go to my group study session tomorrow afternoon without granola bars. It always drags on longer than we plan to and last time I went without snacks I almost got into a fight with some snotty dickhead over the last copy of a book I needed.”

“He says that now.” Robb grins. “But I’m going to have to drag him out of bed tomorrow morning kicking and screaming.”

“We can’t all be naturally pretty like you, Stark. Some of us have to get in a solid eight hours of beauty sleep.”

“Isn’t sleep a myth while you’re at university?” Arya asks. She’s pretty sure that she’s seen a dozen movies and shows about university where the characters walk around like zombies half hung over and characters single handedly keep the local coffee shop open for business.

Theon shrugs. “Only during exam time if you actually study and use your time well throughout the term. Don’t be fucking stupid and eight hours is usually achievable.”

Arya settles down on the couch across from Theon. She’s not entirely sure how they managed to squeeze two couches, a coffee table and a small TV into the living room portion of the space. Black magic might have been involved. She’s pretty sure its more likely down to the fact that even she, as short as she is, wouldn’t be able to kip comfortably on either of the couches.

Robb declares dinner ready to eat five minutes later.

It’s not actually awful.

**-**

**Day 2**

**ROBB**

Robb likes to spend the first minute after he wakes in the morning with his eyes closed. He likes being able to slowly come to, his brain rebooting quietly as he listens to the sounds of the birds outside and his body feels the sheets underneath him.

It’s harder to appreciate the little things with a phone alarm going off and Theon wrapped around him like an octopus.

Theon doesn’t stir even as Robb tries to think of a way to shut his phone off. His right hand is dead, numb under Theon’s weight and his left hand is useless with Theon and half a bed between it and the phone on their bedside table. His legs are tangled up with Theon’s and Robb can’t really think of any way to shut off the phone without moving the hand right under Theon’s body.

He tries poking Theon but it doesn’t do much. Pinching the soft flesh below Theon’s ribs earns Robb a grumble and a dig into the same spot has Theon shifting away from the contact. It’s enough that Robb can start to clench his fist slowly to let his brain know that he’d like to use his arm again in the near future. The pins and needles are uncomfortable and Robb grits his teeth at the sensation of his arm slowly coming back to life.

Robb makes the executive decision to roll them both over and it takes an awkward thirty seconds of shifting and prodding but he manages to end up on Theon’s other side, closer to the phone. In the time that it takes Robb to fumble with the phone and shut off the alarm, Theon has tightened his grip on Robb’s body and found a better position, drooling mouth pressed into the juncture between Robb’s shoulder and neck.

The soft breath across his skin and the warm body pressed against his is almost more than Robb can take. He closes his eyes again and tries to will himself back to sleep just to be able to ignore how different this feels to how it did back when they were pre-teens.

_-_

It takes Robb about three minutes to be completely and utterly done with grocery shopping.

Normally, he doesn’t mind the domesticity of it but today’s trip is a little different to their normal shopping routine. They don’t usually go so early in the morning on a Saturday. The fact that they are means they’re stuck wading through the throngs of people who also decided to buy their food at ten in the morning. They also don’t usually have Arya with them.

Robb wants to make sure they stock up on snacks that Arya will like but it’s a little hard to get anything accomplished with Arya trailing one isle behind, texting Gendry while Theon keeps almost falling asleep at the helm of the shopping trolley.

He has to pull Theon and their shopping trolley out of the way of a mother with three snotty toddlers. “I’m sorry!” Robb flushes bright red and pokes Theon in the ribs hard. “Theon!”

“This is unconstitutional.”

“You slept in until nine,” Robb snaps.

Theon whines into the arm lying across the handle of the trolley. “Put me out of my misery.”

Robb takes a deep breath and looks up to the ceiling in hopes that the Old Gods might see him despite the ceiling and take pity on him. “You’re being ridiculous.”

“Online ordering exists for a reason, Robb.”

Online ordering their groceries to be picked up around the back of the store has always been one of those things that they keep saying they’ll do but always forget. It’s the outside the house errand equivalent of cleaning out the dishwasher filter.

A smart idea in theory but always lacking in execution.

Online ordering wouldn’t have helped today anyway though because their local store doesn’t do same day pick up and they need both study snacks and food for Arya.

“This is so boring.” Arya complains behind Robb. “Can’t I just go sit in the car?”

“No, you need to go look at the snack isle.”

“Why do I have to go look at the snack isle? You can just pick out whatever.”

“Because they don’t have the same snacks here that they do back home.” Robb reminds her. “Stop texting Gendry and go get some snacks to take to school with you.”

“I’m not texting Gendry, I’m messaging him.”

Robb’s pretty sure that texting and messaging are exactly the same thing but he doesn’t have the patience or the desire to argue with his sister over it. “Call him and take him with you to the snack isle then and ask him what he thinks are good.”

“Fine.”

Robb watches her stomp off and feels a little better for solving at least one of his problems. It gives him motivation to try and deal with his other problem.

“Theon, I swear to the Old Gods if you take out someone with this bloody shopping trolley I will pretend that I don’t know you and leave you here to deal with it.”

Theon pulls himself upright with exaggerated effort and gives Robb a petulant look. Robb ignores him and starts to pull the trolley again from the font end in the hopes that they might start moving at a pace faster than a turtle’s. They make it through the isle at a reasonable pace without forgetting anything.

The whole trip takes longer than Robb would have liked but they manage to make it to the check out with only one rant from Arya about the South being weird and Northern snack rights.

As they walk across the parking lot towards the car, Robb mentally tallies up how many near miss incidents there had been with the trolley. Nine. For his own sanity he quickly decides that the total being less than ten means the whole trip is a success.

**-**

**ARYA**

Arya finds Robb in his room hunched over a desk, papers scattered everywhere across the desk. She knocks on the door frame to announce her presence and Robb jumps at the noise. The sudden movement jostles the papers and he has to grab wildly at them to stop them from falling onto the floor.

“Jesus, Ar, we need to put a bell on you.”

“It wouldn’t help you.”

Robb yawns. “Probably not. What’s up?”

Nothing is up and that’s precisely the problem. Rickon is at soccer practice, Bran has science club and Jon’s out on some hike with some guy named Tormund out of signal reach.“I’m bored,” she admits. “How do you live down here without everyone being in your space all the time?”

“I’ve got Theon,” he points out wryly. “He’s pretty much always in my space. The only time he’s not around is when classes are on or if one of us has a study group. But enough about Theon, why don’t we go do something? Just you and me.”

Arya looks at the papers on the desk and Robb’s open laptop. “Don’t you have stuff to do?”

Robb stands up and stretches. “I’ve been studying for a few hours now, I should probably take a break before I get a headache.”

“I don’t want to stop you from doing important uni work.”

“You start school tomorrow and I’ll have plenty of time to get it done when you’re not around.” Robb drops a kiss on Arya’s hair. “I don’t want you to think that we don’t have time for you. Theon wasn’t joking about time management being your friend.”

“Only if you’re sure.”

“I wouldn’t offer it I wasn’t sure.”

Arya’s not entirely sure she believes that because Robb’s stupidly nice like that but she nods anyway. “Okay, what do you guys do here when you’re not going to class and study groups? Frat parties? Mixers?”

“It’s not half as seedy or glamorous as the movies make it out to be. Sometimes we go to the old cinema and watch whatever movie they’ve got playing. Every Sunday they have a marathon of the cringiest movies of a particular genre. I think Theon mentioned it was meant to be horror this week.”

“Can we buy popcorn and talk shit about how terrible the writing always is?”

“What kind of people would we be if we didn’t?” Robb laughs. “Go put some shoes on and I’ll grab my wallet. The cinema is only fifteen minutes away so we can walk there.”

By the time she manages to slip on her sneakers and pull her phone off its charging dock Robb is ready at the front door. They lock the front door behind them and Robb quickly shoots a text off in the group chat letting Theon know where they’re going.

The walk takes the fifteen minutes promised and when they get there Arya immediately decides she likes the old cinema. It’s a small place that looks like someone tried to renovate it about ten years ago. Robb explains it has two screens and a small candy bar and that it never shows new releases. The selection of snacks on offer isn’t the same as the big cinema in Riverrun but it’s cute and more reasonably priced than Arya had expected from such a small place. 

“Robb!” A blonde man in his mid twenties grins at them. “Who is this you’ve brought with you?”

“Alex, this is my little sister Arya. Arya’s coming to stay with us for a while and I thought this place would be a good way to kill off some of the boredom she’s probably feeling.”

“Hi.” Arya waves. She’s never been shy and she’s not going to start now just because she’s living in a new place. “Robb told me you’re doing cringy horror movies today?”

Alex nods. “Yep! We’ve got House of the Dead, Jason X and Jaws 3-D on today. We also take suggestions on what our next marathon should be.” Alex points to a suggestion box next to the register. “So if you’ve got any ideas, grab a pen and one of the ballot papers and fill it in.”

“I’ll think about it?”

“Great! Robb, that’s ten bucks for the two of you.”

Arya watches Robb hand over the money and quickly scans the snack options. This is the second thing Robb’s paid for in the two days she’s been in Riverrun and she doesn’t want him to think she’s fine with being a freeloader. “Can I get a popcorn, two cokes and a packet of gummy bears?”

“Sure, that’s fifteen dollars.”

Arya hands the money over and thrusts the popcorn and the gummy bears into Robb’s hands. “I’ve got pocket money. I can pay for things,” she says stubbornly.

Robb gives her an amused look. “Sure you can, little sister.”

They leave the snack bar and find themselves a seat in the cinema room designated for marathons. It’s not empty and Arya is a little surprised by how many teenagers are in the rows but Arya supposes that there’s probably not a whole lot to do in Riverrun on a Sunday in winter. Up North they’d be ice skating, having snowball fights and playing ice hockey. Winter isn’t half as harsh or half as wonderful in the South.

“Are tickets always this cheap?” She asks Robb as they settle into their seats.

Robb grins. “No. Theon gives Alex’s little sister swimming lessons so we get them half price.”

Arya’s not surprised. Theon’s always been the best swimmer out of all of them and he’d taught Bran and Rickon how to swim. Their mother hadn’t been too keen on the idea of eschewing professional swim teachers but Rickon had caused such a scene in his first class that she had reluctantly handed him over to Theon. Theon had done a good job too because Rickon was the best swimmer in his class and was probably the only one of them who liked to swim half as much as Theon.

“If they’re giving out discounts and not running new releases how do they make money?”

“I don’t know if they do,” Robb says. “This place is owned by some rich guy. His parents met here when they were younger and fell in love. They bought the place to save it from being ripped down. His parents are both gone now but he still keeps the place running to remember them. It’s more a community project than a profitable business.”

Arya ends up missing most of the first film. She’s too distracted by Robb’s story and how terribly romantic the whole thing sounds.

**Author's Note:**

> Please kudos and comment if you like what you've read so far. You can find me on tumblr at @snarky-starks. I am super friendly and I'm always open to asks and messages from new friends!


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